30/05/2025
I’ve been watching as the kohu has slowly rolled in over the last few weeks, a reminder to me of the way the veil between te ao wairua & te ao mārama naturally thins at this time of year. Takurua on its way & Matariki preparing to make her appearance. And I hear the whispers from te taiao… ata haere… slow down. Hoki atu ki tō kainga… return home.
Then I look around my life and realise I forgot to prepare. Struggling to find the space to slow down, the numbers of the calendar ruling my days again as I try to keep pace in this patriarchal, monetary & results driven society, all the while Papatūānuku beats beneath my feet, gently reminding me where the actual sustenance of life flows from.
As my ‘high expectations of self’ mindset keeps its pace, my tinana …ruled by its own internal maramataka, connected to the faces & phases of hina-marama… eventually pulls me to a place where I have no choice. Whiro arises in the night sky and so too does my own Whiro…māuiuitanga sets place in my tinana, and I finally give in to the need to rest… lack of preparation in slowing down the commitments on my calendar gives way to my tinana slowing ME down.
It’s not a new lesson for me, pushing right to the edges before I surrender, but I’ve also learnt to offer myself grace when I need, so I adjust accordingly.
And return to the tohu of te taiao. Ever present. Though cold in nature the beautiful kohu has always felt to me like being wrapped in a warm blanket… bringing me closer to wairua, my place of safety. Though I long to return home to my whenua instead I’m returned home to me & all the pieces begin to land, no more racing thoughts, no more constant outwards focus, no more having to be all the things, to all the people, all the time. Instead I can just be me…
Tuia i runga, tuia i raro, tuia i roto, tuia i waho.
At least for today.
At least for this moment. And here in this moment, this single still moment, the world slows for me.
Kia haumaru to wikene e hoa mā.
